


Hold Me Down (And Don't Let Go)

by forgetpoundgivemekoenig



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 12:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/926684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetpoundgivemekoenig/pseuds/forgetpoundgivemekoenig
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And all the time, he's clutching the badge like it's his life line </p><p> </p><p>(and she's clutching him like he's hers)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold Me Down (And Don't Let Go)

**Author's Note:**

> I figured I would write this pairing again :)
> 
> I didn't do the little "You're dad's back in town" because this is Lydia's POV and I think she'd probably be too focused on everything else (like keeping the guy she lip locked a few hours ago from dying) to really understand words.

She read once that it can take only a few minutes for hypothermia to set in, depending on the temperature of the water. Once your core body temperature drops to 95 degrees it's only a matter of time before you're too late. She read once that your speech becomes slurred and you're prone to lethargy. She read once that it can be fatal. 

He will freeze, he will drown, his lips will go from warm and soft to cold and lifeless. 

If it works, he'll be gone for a matter of seconds. 

If it doesn't, he'll be gone for good. 

One sacrifice for another, one life for another, one horrible, horrible thing for another, one time to do this right, one time to do this wrong, there are so many things that begin with one now. One kiss to make her see, one kiss to make her understand, one kiss to make her realize, one kiss to make her want, one kiss to make this harder than it should be. 

He's always been so strong for everyone. 

He's trembling beneath her now. 

She strokes a thumb along his shoulder and he doesn't stop trembling, because it's cold (because he's scared), because it's difficult (because it's impossible), because the hypothermia is setting in and if he speaks his speech might be slurred. Her thumbs draw circles in his skin, pushing around the fabric of his shirt, and she knows now that she loves him. 

What a good time to realize. 

What a great time to understand. 

The fact that she's strong and can move mountains, stop wars, end plagues, it doesn't matter. Because the one thing she has to do, needs to do, must do, there's a chance she might not be able to. Love makes you do stupid things, so it's said, and the stupid thing she might do is hold him under too long. She's a strong girl, she's calm and collected, a part of her knows she won't. Another part of her can't help but think she will because, after all, she's the girl who finds the dead bodies. 

But she can't think like that. Not now (not ever) because there's so much to be done. She needs to concentrate on the feeling of holding Stiles down, pulling him back up, and getting his dad back. If there's one thing she knows it's how to listen, take in, and do. She's a leader to the nth, but that doesn't mean she can't follow. Deaton is the leader now, and she's just the girl who knows too little to save the guy she kissed today because she figured he might hold his breath (she was banking on the fact that he wanted that kiss just as much as she did). 

And suddenly she has a thought:

She's not going to let him die. 

No, he can't (and he won't). There are so many things she needs to say to him and so many things she needs to hear back. Not "I love you" but "I want you". Not "I want you" but "I need you". He's going to kiss her again and again and again (with lips as warm as hers) and she's going to kiss him again and again and again (and they're both going to be breathing). 

She's always been a strong girl, though she's never been as strong as Stiles. She's never lost a parent, not in the sense that she won't ever get them back, and she's never watched her best friend turn bloodthirsty on the full moon. She's been used and abused, but who hasn't? She's been strangled, but she's still alive. 

Deaton is saying something about "one, two, three" and she looks down at Stiles, calm but nervous beneath her fingertips. His teeth are chattering and she gives herself a moment to drink in the sight, to remember the time she almost killed Stiles, but also the time she brought him back. She leans down and kisses him, gently, on the forehead. 

He looks up at her, briefly, and she smiles. 

She pushes him under. 

She waits. 

And all the time, he's clutching the badge like it's his lifeline (and she's clutching him like he's hers)


End file.
